My 91 is smoking out the vents

Hopefully someone can help me with this... I was on the highway for about an
hour with the A/C running normally, all of a sudden smoke starts pouring out
of my vents, I turn off the A/C and check under the hood. The fan motor? in
the passenger/windshield corner is smoking a bit but not as much as what was
coming out of the vents. I left the fan and A/C off and kept driving
(everything else was normal) . This was 2 days ago and it runs fine, I
haven't turned the fan or A/C back on. The mechanic told me today that he
can't find ANY souce of smoke or burning and that the A/C is running just
fine. What the!?!?!?!?

What did the smoke smell like?


"TonyC" <u24735@uwe> wrote in message news:6414d79719001@uwe...
> Hopefully someone can help me with this... I was on the highway for about an
> hour with the A/C running normally, all of a sudden smoke starts pouring out
> of my vents, I turn off the A/C and check under the hood. The fan motor? in
> the passenger/windshield corner is smoking a bit but not as much as what was
> coming out of the vents. I left the fan and A/C off and kept driving
> (everything else was normal) . This was 2 days ago and it runs fine, I
> haven't turned the fan or A/C back on. The mechanic told me today that he
> can't find ANY souce of smoke or burning and that the A/C is running just
> fine. What the!?!?!?!?
>

Unfortunately my allergies are really bad so my sense of smell isn't so good
but at first I thought It was like burning brush.

Dale Gribble wrote:
>What did the smoke smell like?
>
>> Hopefully someone can help me with this... I was on the highway for about an
>> hour with the A/C running normally, all of a sudden smoke starts pouring out
>[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>> can't find ANY souce of smoke or burning and that the A/C is running just
>> fine. What the!?!?!?!?

Not having been there, it's hard to tell - BUT, is it possible that it was actually
water vapor? Under certain conditions (warm, humid outside air being drawn
in and cooled to just the right temperature) the moisture in the air condenses
into tiny droplets and forms a mist, exactly like how clouds form.

I've seen it happen in my '93 Villager, although never in my Mountaineer. It used
to happen when the cabin air had been chilled down pretty cold using MAX A/C,
and then I switched the A/C to draw in outside air.

I'm fairly certain that's not it, I'm familiar with what you're describing
(my Lancer does that sometimes) but the A/C doesn't get cold enough for that
and it was definitely smoke, I can't smell very well but I sure as H-e-double
hockeysticks smelled that! I literally thought I had an engine fire. I just
heard from the mechanic again and he still found no problems? Oh well I guess
If a pro says it's ok (I'll have someone to sue when I burst into flames!
haha) Thanks for your help.

Dale Gribble wrote:
>Not having been there, it's hard to tell - BUT, is it possible that it was actually
>water vapor? Under certain conditions (warm, humid outside air being drawn
>in and cooled to just the right temperature) the moisture in the air condenses
>into tiny droplets and forms a mist, exactly like how clouds form.
>
>I've seen it happen in my '93 Villager, although never in my Mountaineer. It used
>to happen when the cabin air had been chilled down pretty cold using MAX A/C,
>and then I switched the A/C to draw in outside air.

Most likely it's a blown heater core. It may look and smell like smoke but
it's probably just hot coolant in the form of steam.



TonyC <u24735@uwe> wrote in message news:64154baba5465@uwe...
> I'm fairly certain that's not it, I'm familiar with what you're describing
> (my Lancer does that sometimes) but the A/C doesn't get cold enough for
that
> and it was definitely smoke, I can't smell very well but I sure as
H-e-double
> hockeysticks smelled that! I literally thought I had an engine fire. I
just
> heard from the mechanic again and he still found no problems? Oh well I
guess
> If a pro says it's ok (I'll have someone to sue when I burst into flames!
> haha) Thanks for your help.
>
> Dale Gribble wrote:
> >Not having been there, it's hard to tell - BUT, is it possible that it
was actually
> >water vapor? Under certain conditions (warm, humid outside air being
drawn
> >in and cooled to just the right temperature) the moisture in the air
condenses
> >into tiny droplets and forms a mist, exactly like how clouds form.
> >
> >I've seen it happen in my '93 Villager, although never in my Mountaineer.
It used
> >to happen when the cabin air had been chilled down pretty cold using MAX
A/C,
> >and then I switched the A/C to draw in outside air.
>

Now the fan wont work on any speeds except for "HIgh" and regardless of
wether the A/C is on or off, it engages when the fan is at high. Does this
sound like something associated with a bad heater core?

Ulysses wrote:
>Most likely it's a blown heater core. It may look and smell like smoke but
>it's probably just hot coolant in the form of steam.

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...lorer/200608/1

TonyC via CarKB.com wrote:
> Now the fan wont work on any speeds except for "HIgh" and regardless of
> wether the A/C is on or off, it engages when the fan is at high. Does this
> sound like something associated with a bad heater core?
>


The whole thing now makes sense since the resistor that most likely
burned out is in the blower housing. From under the hood the resistor is
located inside the housing below the blower motor.

Steve

Absolutely right. The blower motor resistor pack, inside the air manifold
under the hood. There will be a 3 or 4 pin connector going to the pack and
it pulls out of the manifold.


"Steve Sigman" > wrote in message
. ..
> TonyC via CarKB.com wrote:
>> Now the fan wont work on any speeds except for "HIgh" and regardless of
>> wether the A/C is on or off, it engages when the fan is at high. Does
>> this
>> sound like something associated with a bad heater core?
>>
>
>
> The whole thing now makes sense since the resistor that most likely
> burned out is in the blower housing. From under the hood the resistor is
> located inside the housing below the blower motor.
>
> Steve

TonyC via CarKB.com wrote:
> I brought my truck into the mehanic again today and he's going to pull the
> a/c unit out of the dash and check the switches, said that when he first
> looked at it (the blower motor) he didn't see any signs of electrical damage.
>


Don't let him take the a/c unit out of the dash! There's no need.
Just get him to check the fan speed resistor pack as stated by the two
other posters in this thread. You probably blew two of the resistors
and just need to replace the board. I hope you don't get soaked.